ICTSI stock most preferred by foreign funds in November

MANILA, Philippines — International Container Terminal Services Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon emerged as the favorite stock of foreign investors in November with a total of P2.5 billion worth of shares acquired by foreign funds.

This is according to the December issue of The Market Call, a joint publication of the University of Asia & The Pacific (UA&P) and First Metro Investment Corp. (FMIC).

ICTSI shares jumped by 7.3 percent month on month in November, after experiencing a 2.9 percent drop in the previous month.

The company anticipates to finish the first phase of its terminal expansion in Melbourne, Australia by the end of 2023, which is projected to enhance the capacity of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) by 30 percent to 1.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

This, in turn, would allow the terminal to accommodate larger vessels.

Ayala Land Inc. was the second favorite stock, recording foreign buying of P1.2 billion followed by Ayala Corp., which had a foreign buying of P449.3 million.

Jollibee Foods Corp. had P436.05 million worth of shares acquired by foreign buyers while telco giant PLDT completed the top five foreign favorites with P255.25 million worth of shares acquired by foreign funds.

Total value of the top five shares acquired by foreign funds in November amounted to P4.8 billion.

On the other hand, the top five stocks sold by foreign investors last month were Metrobank (P547.3 million), AREIT (P457.62 million), Universal Robina Corp. (P355.81 million); SM Investments Corp. (P315.12 million) and Monde Nissin (290.74 million).

This brought the total amount of top five stocks sold by foreign funds in November to P2 billion, according to The Market Call.

This developed as five sectors of the PSEi turned in a positive performance during the month while one sector still tumbled.

This resulted in a 4.2 percent month-on-month gain (MoM) by PSEi in November. The property sector valuations rose by 7.2 percent MoM, making it the top-performing sector for the month after experiencing a 2.8 percent MoM decline in October.

The services sector followed suit with a 4.3 percent MoM uptick. Meanwhile, the mining and oil sector fell by 1.2 percent MoM, emerging as the sole loser in November.

On the other hand, the financial sector still held the best year-to-date (YTD) performance with its 5.9 percent gain, The Market Call said.